mgproudfit
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Awesome, thanks a lot once again!
Guide to setup a Quarantine Tank (QT).
- Thread starter Dr. Reef
- Start date
Will having some live rock or ceramic media for bio lower copper levels if treating the QT proactively for ich? I'm setting up a 10 gallon QT. I'm am using a Marineland Biowheel 200, but I filled the chamber with just a lot of filter floss and one small (3") piece of live rock and a 3" square piece of Cermedia (which worked miracles in my koi pond, cycled in a week). I'm still using the bio wheel as well, but wanted to know if the live rock, cermedia (ceramic media) or filter floss will cause issues with maintaining copper at 0.5? I am not using carbon as I know it will absorb copper.
yes some of it will be absorbed by the rock and floss. cemeric rings not as much. u will have to watch as u add copper slowly everyday. it wont cause any harm or problem as such but when u start dosing ur reading/testing results will not match as per manufacturer claims per dosage as some of the copper will be absorbed by items in ur tank.
So to over come that you will need to have a very good copper test kit and check ur levels.
once u reach 0.5 then it will hold there unless removed physically by means of curasorb or water changes.
The reason why most people dont recommend anything in hospital tank is due to the fact you dont know how much copper will get absorbed so u may end up using a lot more that recommended dosage.
So to over come that you will need to have a very good copper test kit and check ur levels.
once u reach 0.5 then it will hold there unless removed physically by means of curasorb or water changes.
The reason why most people dont recommend anything in hospital tank is due to the fact you dont know how much copper will get absorbed so u may end up using a lot more that recommended dosage.
So once I do finally reach 0.5 it will stay there even with the live rock/filter floss in there? Or will I need to continue to check copper levels every day to make sure the levels don't drop? I plan on having the filter cycled so I don't need to do water changes much (hopefully) during the copper treatment. But, at the same time I don't want to have to test every single day for 6 months over a year(since I will be adding a new fish every 8 weeks for a year and the copper treatment will be for 4 weeks).
Would I be better off just removing the live rock and filter floss and just stuffing the HOB filter with the Cermedia? Then the only filter I would have would be the Cermedia and Bio Wheel (rated for 30-50 gallons on my 10 gallon tank).
Thanks for your help. This thread is Awesome!
Would I be better off just removing the live rock and filter floss and just stuffing the HOB filter with the Cermedia? Then the only filter I would have would be the Cermedia and Bio Wheel (rated for 30-50 gallons on my 10 gallon tank).
Thanks for your help. This thread is Awesome!
initially it will be difficult to judge exactly what ur levels are due to copper being soaked into rock etc. but once u reach ur level it should ideally stay there. but i would check levels atleast first few days after u reach 0.5 so to make sure ur tank is maintaining the required level and then maybe once every week or so.
I personally dont put anything in my QT/Hospital tank except ceramic rings and biowheel filter. i have this configuration on a 20 gal tank and i have never had any issues with it.
I personally dont put anything in my QT/Hospital tank except ceramic rings and biowheel filter. i have this configuration on a 20 gal tank and i have never had any issues with it.
It is settled then. I'm going to remove the filter floss and live rock and replace it with my cermedia. It will be interesting to see if my QT cycles as quickly as my koi pond that uses Cermedia. Though I won't use Cermedia in my DT as then I would have a nitrate problem, but it sounds like they will work in a QT. thanks for the help!
No problem. QT fish only nitrates shouldnt be a big deal till they get way up like in 100+ppm range. but with normal water changes u should be just fine.
remember with every water change ur copper level will go down so recheck and redose accordingly.
Also i would not recommend keeping qt at 0.5 copper all the time for 6 months.
I strongly recommend getting fish or 2 at a time slowly adding copper. i would stagger the dosage over several days to reach 0.5 as fish cant take copper very well and some will die. If you introduce fish right out 0.5 u will see more fatality rate.
you can quarantine more than 1 fish at a time depending on the size of tank you have and their temprament.
2 clowns will be ok in qt at same time and royal gramma and watchman goby can also be qt'ed at same time. at worse in some aggressive fish i divide the tank lengthwise with a egg crate. there is a pic in earlier post. this way gives more room for fish to swim and no fights among fish.
2 clowns will be ok in qt at same time and royal gramma and watchman goby can also be qt'ed at same time. at worse in some aggressive fish i divide the tank lengthwise with a egg crate. there is a pic in earlier post. this way gives more room for fish to swim and no fights among fish.
oh i am sorry to hear about the clowns, but thanks for ur kinds words about the forum. if u decide to use copper based medication goto my blog by clicking blue number under my name and follow along to another forum there called Guide on how to treat fish with copper based meds. hope to hear ur clowns doing good soon.
here is a link for people that would like to know more about how to treat with copper.
Remember copper is not for all fish and is very harmful or fatal even in low quantities.
please do ur research on what type of fish your treating.
also cupramine (what i use) is a powerful med and the directions are very aggressive. please read through my blog to see how to over come the aggressiveness of the medicine.
Thanks
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=20614751#post20614751
Remember copper is not for all fish and is very harmful or fatal even in low quantities.
please do ur research on what type of fish your treating.
also cupramine (what i use) is a powerful med and the directions are very aggressive. please read through my blog to see how to over come the aggressiveness of the medicine.
Thanks
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=20614751#post20614751
i personally run QT bare no matter what fish it is. place it in a bare bottom QT and if shows signs of stress and shyness then u can always add a bowl of sand.
Gotcha. Just put him in there so I'll see if he opens up in the next couple of days. He's shy right now. This thread has been extremely helpful.
Do you have suggestions on how much water to change after copper treatments. For example, after I run copper at .3-.4 for 4 weeks then do I do a 50% WC at the end of week 4? Is that the only WC I do or do I do another 50% WC 2 days later? Do I add cuprisorb and carbon at the start of week 5 or the middle of week 5 to get all the copper out over that 5th week? Sorry for all the questions.
Also after 1 week prazipro treatment do I just do one 50% then I can start copper or do I need to do multiple WCs?
This all assume ammonia is staying at zero. Thanks for your help.
after prazi i would do few 50% WC will take it all out and run carbon. then when you start cupramine take carbon out. run copper for 4 weeks and then start doing water changes in 5th week. i would do 3-5 50% WC and then run cuprisorb and carbon to get all the copper out.
note: in a 20 gal tank it will take 7 x 50% WC to get a 100% pure(new) water.
Week % Pure
1 50% 50%
2 75% 25%
3 88% 13%
4 94% 7%
5 97% 4%
6 99% 2%
7 100% 1%
note: in a 20 gal tank it will take 7 x 50% WC to get a 100% pure(new) water.
Week % Pure
1 50% 50%
2 75% 25%
3 88% 13%
4 94% 7%
5 97% 4%
6 99% 2%
7 100% 1%
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Very helpful! Do you have to get the QT tank to zero copper before you transfer the fish to the main tank or can you transfer right after the 4th week or would that be too much of a shock?
Also how many weeks of prazipro do you run? I read somewhere on here that some did 1 week of prazipro before copper and 1 week after copper. Also would it make sense to just do 2 weeks straight of prazipro so you aren't switching back and forth between medications. Unless of course that is the point, to spread out prazipro treatments.
Also how many weeks of prazipro do you run? I read somewhere on here that some did 1 week of prazipro before copper and 1 week after copper. Also would it make sense to just do 2 weeks straight of prazipro so you aren't switching back and forth between medications. Unless of course that is the point, to spread out prazipro treatments.
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